Road to Utopia (1946)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Hal Walker

Writers:

Norman Panama (original screenplay) &
Melvin Frank (original screenplay)

Release Date:

22 March 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Comedy

Plot:

At the turn of the century, Duke and Chester, two vaudeville performers, go to Alaska to make their fortune...

Plot Keywords:

Map | Ship | Alaska | Vaudeville | Disguise

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Duke Johnson / Junior Hooton
Bob Hope	...	Chester Hooton
Dorothy Lamour	...	Sal Van Hoyden
Hillary Brooke	...	Kate
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Ace Larson
Jack La Rue	...	LeBec (as Jack LaRue)
Robert Barrat	...	Sperry
Nestor Paiva	...	McGurk
Robert Benchley	...	Narrator

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #9933) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

June Lake, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Quotes:

Sal Van Hoyden: Don't be facetious!
Chester Hooton: [confused] Oh, keep politics out of this!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Road to Rio (1947)

Soundtrack:

Welcome to My Dream

Who'd Be Selling Fish At THIS Hour?

This is hardly an original insight, but anyone who dismisses Bob Hope as the tiresome, unfunny comic from those dreadful '60s 'comedies' he appeared in is missing out on a real national treasure - his films up to around 1952 are hysterically funny, and his ROAD entries with cohorts Crosby and Lamour are among the best of 'em. Hope, along with the brilliant Preston Sturges, had restored Paramount to the comedy throne they'd occupied in the early 30s; from the lavish budget and attention to period detail throughout UTOPIA, it's obvious that the studio was not ungrateful. For my money, ROAD TO UTOPIA is the funniest film he ever made (though there are half-a-dozen others close on its heels). As in all ROAD movies, the engine powering the vehicle was the lightning-quick banter between the two leads; Crosby smooth as snake-oil , Hope perpetually suspicious and cowardly. And with excellent reason, as no straight man ever victimized a foil the way Bing routinely does to Bob. ROAD movies always threaded their satires of B-movie plots (this one spoofing Robert W Service-style frozen-North melodrama) with plenty of topical humor, much of it capitalizing on the fans' awareness of the stars' personal foibles (Crosby's rivalry with Sinatra, his investments in thoroughbreds, Hope's disastrous box-office returns in LET'S FACE IT), and there's a goodly amount of what later generations referred to as 'breaking the fourth wall' ( they talk directly to the audience at varying points). What elevates UTOPIA over the others is the sky-high breezy confidence of everyone involved this go-around. The cast and crew, coming off ROAD TO MOROCCO, were on a roll and knew it and they ride that momentum for all it's worth, Hope's constant kibitzing particularly hilarious from start to finish. Der Bingle gets to groan a couple of subpar songs (as opposed to MOROCCO's highlights - 'Ho Hum' and 'Moonlight Becomes You' - this outing's 'It's Anybody's Spring' and 'Welcome To My Dream' are instantly forgettable) but the team's 'Put It There, Pal' is infectious fun and Miss Lamour's 'Personality' is sexy and sprightly. A further note on Lamour - she's luxuriously beautiful here, an ice-cream sundae with curves (why she's never ranked with the decade's top screen sirens is unfathomable: she's every bit the looker that Lake, Grable, Hayworth & Sheridan were, and a better singer besides). My apologies for not quoting any of the zingers from the script, but there are just too many of them to play favorites with. ROAD TO UTOPIA is well worth the effort it'll take you to track down; get cracking.